BURSA Malaysia ended higher today, supported by persistent buying in selected consumer products and services as well as healthcare counters, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.71 points to end the day at 1,504.44 compared with Monday’s close of 1,496.73.
The market bellwether, which opened 2.70 points better at 1,499.43, fluctuated between 1,498.53 and 1,514.52 throughout the day.
Market breadth was, however, negative with losers leading gainers 654 to 433, while 407 counters were unchanged, 710 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.59 billion units worth RM3.10 bil from 3.68 billion units valued at RM2.20 bil on Monday. The market was closed on Tuesday for the Maal Hijrah public holiday.
The biggest contributors to the benchmark index included MR DIY Group (M) Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which contributed a combined 3.58 points to the index, after their shares gained 19 sen and 23 sen to RM3.80 and RM6.94, respectively.
A dealer said the local market saw some persistent buying today following the easing of the ongoing movement control order (MCO) as announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently.
Meanwhile, ActicTrades’ trader Anderson Alves said that Asian equities were mixed on Wednesday in tandem with the performance on Wall Street overnight.
“The Delta variant continues to drive growth revisions in the region as restrictions are being extended. In Australia, Victoria’s State Premier extended Melbourne’s lockdown for another seven days while South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases hit a record 2,200 for the first time,” he remarked.
In a research note today, he said traders were watching the recent high-frequency data to see if economies in the region will first experience a period of disinflation before inflationary pressures kick off again.
“Participants will also be awaiting the US Treasury auctions and US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due later in the session. A strong reading in the headline and core CPI could keep supporting the US dollar in the short term,” he added.
“It might put some pressure on US yields, which could change the global market flows for the weeks ahead as traders might have to review the US inflation expectations and reprice the Federal Reserve’s future actions.”
Back home, heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and IHH Healthcare Bhd rose 3.0 sen each to RM8.03 and RM5.82, respectively, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd improved 1.0 sen to RM8.01, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) gained 5.0 sen to RM9.73, while Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM3.96.
Among the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd and Focus Dynamics Group Bhd were flat at 81.5 sen and 4.0 sen, respectively, Ta Win Holdings Bhd earned half-a-sen to 17.5 sen, while M3 Technologies (Asia) Bhd perked up 1.5 sen to 7.0 sen. – Aug 11, 2021
